The business behind EVL Friends' used bookstore

Claire Woodcock

Posted:
12/21/2018 08:47:25 PM MST

The Estes Valley Library has a physical collection of 60,000 titles and receives about that number in donations each year. (Claire Woodcock)

Next year, the Estes Valley Library Friends and Foundation is opening a used bookstore to further support its fundraising efforts for the Estes Valley Library. The Estes Valley Library Friends and Foundation Used Bookstore will provide a home for the tens of thousands of used books donated to the local library over the years.

The Friends and Foundation Board approved a proposal on Dec. 3 to acquire the property and begin developing its business plan and model for operating the year-round used bookstore. The site is located at 191 West Riverside Dr., and volunteers have already moved the donated books out of rental storage and onto shelves.

Claudine Perrault, executive director of the Estes Valley Library, said the Friends' volunteers sort through about 60,000 book donations a year. She called the donation-count astonishing, seeing as that's how many books the library holds in its physical collection.

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“Historically on the second floor of the library, the Friends' volunteers would sort through daily donations,” Perrault said. “They've used a good system, sorting them into 24 categories. Then the sorted books get boxed, hauled off to storage, then hauled off to sale locations. In the current system, each book is touched about a dozen times before it even gets to sale. Now everything will be donated and sold in the same space.”

The Friend's expenses for storage space had been increasing; they were looking for a long-term solution. Having a used bookstore seemed like a secure solution. Five years of used book sales facilitated by the nonprofit allowed the Friends to pay the down payment on the site's mortgage.

Diane Shriver was elected president of the Estes Valley Library Friends and Foundation at the board's Dec. 17 meeting. Prior to Shriver's election, she had served as the foundation's secretary. She is elated by the progress the Foundation has made towards providing Estes Park with a used bookstore and amazed by the community's generosity in their willingness to donate their books.

“It's such a wonderful way to keep the books in circulation and not in a recycle place,” she said. “The library just gets boxes and boxes of donations.”

Former president of the Friends and Foundation Graham Russell agreed with the concept but submitted his resignation letter to the board on Dec. 5. He later communicated regret for not conducting a more thorough review of parts of the proposal while active in the role.

“I was very enthusiastic about the concept of a used bookstore,” Russell said. “However, as this particular proposal moved forward and I started to dig into it, there were a number of things that I learned that caused me to go off the idea of this particular game frame.”

Russell said doubts about the process came up for some board members and himself about six weeks ago. One issue stemmed from rental units located on the second floor of the building the foundation purchased. He is concerned about how that tax issue will play out with the IRS.

Shriver said the Friends have submitted an application to have a tax-exempt property status and are waiting to hear the response from the IRS.

Generally, a handful of volunteers sort through donations for up to 20 hours a week. The used bookstore will be staffed by volunteers, organized by Sarah Walsh, the Friends and Foundation's executive director. Perrault estimated there to be roughly 200 volunteers between the Friends and library itself that help carry out the library's mission.

Russell expressed skepticism over the number of volunteers that will be needed to keep the business open year-round, and how that staff will be managed.

“If it's going to be run entirely by volunteers, it's going to require a lot of volunteers to manage that process,” he said. “Retirees are always traveling. Running a major team of volunteers takes a considerable amount of management effort. It's not clear to me that that's going to be as easy as it should be.”

Still, Russell supports the foundation's determination to bring a used bookstore to Estes Park and how it will benefit the Estes Valley Library and community at-large, though he fears it will be a bumpy ride and the level of commitment from the board will be significantly tested.

Shriver spoke highly of Russell's tenure as board president with the Friends and Foundation. But Shriver does not share in Russell's concerns. She is anticipating the store will formally open in April 2019.

“It is accurate to say the Friends and Foundation board members are unanimous in our passion and enthusiasm for the library's future,” Shriver said.

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